ENCE 425 Decision Analysis for Engineering
Spring 2007 Projects
Selected Previous Projects (to give some ideas)
From ENCE 360 Analysis of Civil Engineering Systems
From ENCE 627 Decision Analysis for Engineering (formerly graduate version of ENCE 425) and from ENCE 667 Project Performance Measurement
| Chemical/Manufacturing Processing, Product Design |
Construction | Finance & Budgeting, IT, Scheduling, Bayes Theorem |
| • Product Design • Photo Voltaic Arrays for House • Chemical Selection for Wastewater Treatment • Bottling Plant Upgrade |
• Real Estate Construction • Pile Optimization • Navy Health Care |
• Project Portfolio Selection • Data Warehousing • Sidewalk & BusStop Design • Water Treatment Plant Upgrade • Bridge Inspection • Oil & Gas Project Selection |
Project Details
Overview
The course project is intended to give students first-hand experience with engineering project management for a chosen decision modeling topic. There are three phases to this project as in the case of real-world projects.
- In particular, a proposal for the work to be done needs to be generated.
- Second, the actual analysis and data collection needs to be performed.
- And lastly, like real-world projects, there is the reporting and/or presentation stage.
This course project of course differs from real-world ones in that it is not necessary to develop and stick to a budget involving costs. The project will analyze one or more decision modeling aspects of a real or realistic project that will be selected by the student and approved by the instructor. Students are encouraged to talk with Professor Gabriel about possible topics prior to the proposal deadline. Examples of other modeling projects are shown above. If desired, two students may work together on this course project with the understanding that both students must contribute significantly on all phases of the project (proposal, mid-project review, presentation, final report). In what follows, a “project team” therefore means either one or two students as appropriate.
Deliverables
- Written Project Proposal (approx. 3-5 pages) due February 21, 2007
- Mid-Term Project Review Meeting in class on March or April, 2007
- Presentation and Final Report (approx. 15-20 pages) due May 9, 2007
Written Proposal
The written proposal is a “contract” in some sense between the project team and the instructor and should be thought out carefully. It will consist of 3-5 pages necessarily including the following sections:
- Overview of the project
- Objective of the project
- Description of the course concepts to be used
- Work plan, listing specific work tasks to be performed in support of the project objective, with key dates, for example
a. Task 1: Collect relevant data, June 10-June 15,
b. Task 2: Perform statistical analyses, June 16-June 30, etc.
Note that each project will potentially have distinct tasks along with specific dates by when the work tasks should be completed. - Estimate the number of hours for each task and when these hours will be spent. This estimate will be compared with the actual number of hours expended when the project team meets for the mid-project review, the final presentation and perhaps at other times during the semester.
- List of possible problems (for example, lack of sufficient data for analysis) and back-up plan in order to perform the project on time.
Distribution of work between the project members if two people make up the project team. This item could instead be included in the work plan if preferred.
Mid-Project Meeting
The project team will meet with Professor Gabriel at least once during the month of April (outside of class time) to report on the progress of the project. In particular, items to be discussed will include how well the work plan is being followed, any problems encountered, any new tasks that need to be included. This meeting is important to the success of the project and is mandatory.
Presentation and Final Report
The project team will prepare both a presentation as well as a final report on their chosen project. The presentation will be in class as discussed above. The preferred presentation format is to use PowerPoint either using a laptop with a projector hookup or to use overhead transparencies. The project team should make arrangement so that everyone in the audience will have a paper copy of the presentation on which to take notes. The presentation will last approximately 20 to 30 minutes (the exact time will be determined once the number of project teams is known). At a minimum, the presentation should outline the objectives of the project, the conclusions, and some of the analysis involved. In addition, if desired, the presenters can briefly mention possible follow-up work. Note that it is expected that those students not giving the presentation will have the opportunity to participate in the discussion during and following the presentation.
The final report will consist of approximately 15-20 word-processed pages (single spaced) and will contain the detailed analysis of the project. This report, due in class as discussed above, will consist of the following sections:
- Overview of the project that was considered
- Objective of the project
- Description of the course concepts that were used
- Major conclusions reached
- Detailed description of the project including any problems encountered, and
- Description of future extensions of this work (if desirable).
ENCE425 home | Syllabus | Schedule & Homeworks | Projects | Downloads & Links
